Bible translations into Polish
Encyclopedia
Millennium Bible
Millennium Bible is the main Polish Bible translation used in the liturgy of the Roman Catholic Church in Poland. Its first edition was published in 1965 on the 1000-year anniversary of the baptism of Poland...
(Biblia Tysiąclecia) first published in 1965.
First translations
The history of the PolishPolish language
Polish is a language of the Lechitic subgroup of West Slavic languages, used throughout Poland and by Polish minorities in other countries...
translation of the Bible begins with the Psalter. The earliest recorded translations date to 13th century, around 1280, however, none of those have survived. The Florian Psalter (Psałterz floriański), assumed to be a copy of that translation, itself a manuscript of the second half of the 14th century, in the abbey of Saint Florian
Saint Florian
Florian lived in the time of the Roman emperors Diocletian and Maximian, and was commander of the imperial army in the Roman province of Noricum. In addition to his military duties, he was also responsible for organizing firefighting brigades....
, near Linz
Linz
Linz is the third-largest city of Austria and capital of the state of Upper Austria . It is located in the north centre of Austria, approximately south of the Czech border, on both sides of the river Danube. The population of the city is , and that of the Greater Linz conurbation is about...
, in Latin, Polish, and German is the oldest surviving Polish translation of the Bible.
A critical edition of the Polish part was published by Wladysław Nehring (Psalterii Florianensis pars Polonica, Poznań, 1883) with a very instructive introduction. Besides the Florian Psalter there is also the slightly newer the Psalter of Puławy (now in Kraków
Kraków
Kraków also Krakow, or Cracow , is the second largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in the Lesser Poland region, the city dates back to the 7th century. Kraków has traditionally been one of the leading centres of Polish academic, cultural, and artistic life...
) from the end of the 15th century (published in facsimile, Posen, 1880). There was also a 16th century translation of the New Testament
New Testament
The New Testament is the second major division of the Christian biblical canon, the first such division being the much longer Old Testament....
, as well as more fragmentary translations, none of which were preserved in their full form to the modern day.
Polish Bibles originated after the middle of the 15th century. An incomplete Bible, the so-called Queen Sophia's Bible (Biblia królowej Zofii named after Sophia of Halshany
Sophia of Halshany
Sophia of Halshany , was a Lithuanian princess of Halshany, Queen of Poland from , and the last wife of Jogaila.-Biography:...
, for whom it was intended, dating to before 1455, contains Genesis, Joshua, Ruth, Kings, Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah, II (III) Esdras, Tobit, and Judith. With the Reformation
Protestant Reformation
The Protestant Reformation was a 16th-century split within Western Christianity initiated by Martin Luther, John Calvin and other early Protestants. The efforts of the self-described "reformers", who objected to the doctrines, rituals and ecclesiastical structure of the Roman Catholic Church, led...
period, activity in the work of translation increased as the different confessions endeavored to supply their adherents with texts of the Bible. An effort to provide the Lutherans
Lutheranism
Lutheranism is a major branch of Western Christianity that identifies with the theology of Martin Luther, a German reformer. Luther's efforts to reform the theology and practice of the church launched the Protestant Reformation...
with the Bible in Polish was made by Duke Albert of Prussia in a letter directed in his name to Melanchthon
Philipp Melanchthon
Philipp Melanchthon , born Philipp Schwartzerdt, was a German reformer, collaborator with Martin Luther, the first systematic theologian of the Protestant Reformation, intellectual leader of the Lutheran Reformation, and an influential designer of educational systems...
.
Brest Bible, 1563
Jan Seklucjan (1510–1578), preacher at KönigsbergKönigsberg
Königsberg was the capital of East Prussia from the Late Middle Ages until 1945 as well as the northernmost and easternmost German city with 286,666 inhabitants . Due to the multicultural society in and around the city, there are several local names for it...
, was commissioned to prepare a translation, and he published the New Testament at Königsberg in 1551 and 1552. The Polish Reformed (Calvinists
Calvinism
Calvinism is a Protestant theological system and an approach to the Christian life...
) received the Bible through Prince Nicholas Radziwill (1515–65). A company of Polish and foreign theologians and scholars undertook the task, and, after six years' labor at the "Sarmatian Athens" at Pińczów
Pinczów
Pińczów is a town in Poland, in Świętokrzyskie Voivodship, about 40 km south of Kielce. It is the capital of Pińczów County. Population is 12,304 .-History:...
, not far from Kraków
Kraków
Kraków also Krakow, or Cracow , is the second largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in the Lesser Poland region, the city dates back to the 7th century. Kraków has traditionally been one of the leading centres of Polish academic, cultural, and artistic life...
, finished the translation of the Bible which was published at the expense of Radziwill in Brest-Litovsk, 1563 (hence called the Brest Bible
Brest Bible
The Brest Bible was the first comprehensive Polish language Protestant Bible translation, published in 1563 in Brest and dedicated to King Sigismund II Augustus....
Biblia Brzeska). The translators state that for the Old Testament they consulted besides the Hebrew text the ancient versions and different modern Latin ones.
Socinian versions
Two years after the Brest Bible was completed the Calvinist and Radical wings of the Reformed church split in 1565, and the Bible was suspect to both groups: The Calvinist Ecclesia Major suspected it of ArianArian
Arian may refer to:* Arius, a Christian presbyter in the 3rd and 4th century* a given name in different cultures: Aria, Aryan or Arian...
interpretations; the Radical Ecclesia Minor complained that it was not accurate enough. Symon Budny
Symon Budny
Symon Budny was a Belarusian and Polish humanist, educator, hebraist, Bible translator, Church reformator, philosopher, sociologist and historian.-Christology:...
, a Byelorussian of the Judaizing wing of the Ecclesia Minor especially charged against the Brest Bible that it was not prepared according to the original texts, but after the Vulgate and other modern versions, and that the translators cared more for elegant Polish than for a faithful rendering. He undertook a new rendering, and his translation ("made anew from the Hebrew, Greek, and Latin into the Polish") was printed in 1572 at Nesvizh
Nesvizh
Nesvizh is a city in Belarus. It is the administrative center of the Nesvizh District of Minsk Province and location of the Nesvizh Castle World Heritage Site. Its 2009 population is 14,300 .-History:...
. As changes were introduced in the printing which were not approved by Budny, he disclaimed the New Testament and published another edition (1574) Zasłaŭje, and then finally a third edition (1589) where he withdrew some of his Judaizing and Talmudic readings. The charges which he made against the Brest Bible were also made against his own, and Budny's former colleague Marcin Czechowic
Marcin Czechowic
Martin Czechowic was a Polish Socinian minister, theologian and writer.-Life:...
of Lublin
Lublin
Lublin is the ninth largest city in Poland. It is the capital of Lublin Voivodeship with a population of 350,392 . Lublin is also the largest Polish city east of the Vistula river...
- who was concerned with Budny's preference for Hebrew over Greek sources - published the Polish Brethren
Polish Brethren
The Polish Brethren were members of the Minor Reformed Church of Poland, a Nontrinitarian Protestant church that existed in Poland from 1565 to 1658...
's own edition of the New Testament (Cracow, 1577). The interesting preface states that Czechowic endeavored to make an accurate translation, but did not suppress his Socinian ideas; e.g., he used "immersion" instead of "baptism." A further truly Socinian Racovian New Testament
Racovian New Testament
The Racovian New Testament refers to two separate translations produced by the Unitarian Polish Brethren at the printing presses of the Racovian Academy, Raków, Poland.-Enyedi's "Preface to the Racovian New Testament":...
was published by Valentinus Smalcius
Valentinus Smalcius
Valentinus Smalcius was a German Socinian theologian. He is known for his German translation of the Racovian Catechism, and Racovian New Testament translated from Greek into Polish...
, a pupil of Fausto Sozzini (Racovian Academy
Racovian Academy
The Racovian Academy was a school of the Socinian Polish Brethren operating in Raków, Kielce County, Poland 1602-1638, and publisher of the Racovian Catechism in 1605....
, 1606).
Danzig Bible, 1632
The Brest Bible was superseded by the so-called Danzig Bible (or Gdańsk Bible), which finally became the Bible of all Evangelical Poles. At the synod in OżarowiceOzarowice
Ożarowice is a village in Tarnowskie Góry County, Silesian Voivodeship, in southern Poland. It is the seat of the gmina called Gmina Ożarowice. It lies approximately east of Tarnowskie Góry and north of the regional capital Katowice.The village has a population of 1,700.-References:...
, 1600, a new edition of the Bible was proposed and the work was given to the Reformed minister Martin Janicki, who had already translated the Bible from the original texts. In 1603 the printing of this translation was decided upon, after the work had been carefully revised. The work of revision was entrusted to men of the Reformed and Lutheran confessions and members of the Moravian Church (1604), especially to Daniel Mikołajewski (d. 1633), superintendent of the Reformed churches in Great Poland, and Jan Turnowski, senior of the Moravian Church in Great Poland (d. 1629).
After it had been compared with the Janicki translation, the Brest, the Bohemian, Pagnini's Latin, and the Vulgate, the new rendering was ordered printed. The Janicki translation as such has not been printed, and it is difficult to state how much of it is contained in the new Bible. The New Testament was first published at Danzig
Gdansk
Gdańsk is a Polish city on the Baltic coast, at the centre of the country's fourth-largest metropolitan area.The city lies on the southern edge of Gdańsk Bay , in a conurbation with the city of Gdynia, spa town of Sopot, and suburban communities, which together form a metropolitan area called the...
, 1606, and very often during the 16th and 17th centuries. The complete Bible was issued in 1632, and often since. The Danzig Bible differs so much from that of Brest that it may be regarded as a new translation. It is erroneously called also the Bible of Pavel Paliurus (1569—1632) (a Moravian, senior of the Evangelical Churches in Great Poland, d. 1632); but he had no part in the work.
Jakub Wujek Bible, 1599
For the Roman Catholics the Bible was translated from the Vulgate by Jan Nicz of Lwów (Jan Leopolita, hence the Biblia Leopolity) Kraków, 1561, 1574, and 1577. This Bible was superseded by the new translation of the Jesuit Jakub WujekJakub Wujek
Jakub Wujek son of Maciej Wujek; a Polish Jesuit, religious writer, Doctor of Theology, Vice-Chancellor of the Vilnius Academy and translator of the Bible into Polish.-Life:...
(c.1540 - Kraków 1593) that became known as the Jakub Wujek Bible
Jakub Wujek Bible
The Jakub Wujek Bible was the main Polish Bible translation used in the liturgy of the Roman Catholic Church in Poland from the late 16th century till the mid-20th century....
. Wujek criticized the Leopolita and non-Catholic Bible versions and spoke very favorably of the Polish of the Brest Bible, but asserted that it was full of heresies and of errors in translation. The first copies of Wujek's New Testament appeared in 1593 - containing Wujek's "teachings and warnings" regarding the Protestant versions. Czechowic went into print with a booklet accusing Wujek of plagiarism and following the Latin over the Greek. With the approbation of the Holy See
Holy See
The Holy See is the episcopal jurisdiction of the Catholic Church in Rome, in which its Bishop is commonly known as the Pope. It is the preeminent episcopal see of the Catholic Church, forming the central government of the Church. As such, diplomatically, and in other spheres the Holy See acts and...
the New Testament was first published at Kraków, 1593, and the Old Testament in 1599, after Wujek's death. This Bible (Biblia Wujka) has often been reprinted. Wujek's translation follows, in the main, the Vulgate.
Modern Versions
Today the official and most popular Bible in Poland is the Millennium BibleMillennium Bible
Millennium Bible is the main Polish Bible translation used in the liturgy of the Roman Catholic Church in Poland. Its first edition was published in 1965 on the 1000-year anniversary of the baptism of Poland...
(Biblia Tysiąclecia) first published in 1965. Other popular Catholic translations include Poznań Bible (Biblia Poznańska, 1975) and Biblia Warszawsko-Praska (1997).
Polish Protestants had been widely using Danzig Bible (Biblia Gdańska), until they prepared their modern translation: Warsaw Bible (Biblia Warszawska) in 1975.
Jehovah's Witnesses
Jehovah's Witnesses
Jehovah's Witnesses is a millenarian restorationist Christian denomination with nontrinitarian beliefs distinct from mainstream Christianity. The religion reports worldwide membership of over 7 million adherents involved in evangelism, convention attendance of over 12 million, and annual...
have translated their New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures
New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures
The New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures is a translation of the Bible published by the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society in 1961; it is used and distributed by Jehovah's Witnesses. Though it is not the first Bible to be published by the group, it is their first original translation of...
into Polish, as Przekład Nowego Świata (1984).
In 2009 a grammatical update of the Danzig Bible New Testament, Uwspółcześniona Biblia Gdańska(UBG), containing cross references was published by the Foundation Wrota Nadziei in Toruń
Torun
Toruń is an ancient city in northern Poland, on the Vistula River. Its population is more than 205,934 as of June 2009. Toruń is one of the oldest cities in Poland. The medieval old town of Toruń is the birthplace of the astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus....
. The translation and modernization of archaisms found in the old Danzig Bible was done by a team of born again Polish and American Christians.
Text examples
| John Gospel of John The Gospel According to John , commonly referred to as the Gospel of John or simply John, and often referred to in New Testament scholarship as the Fourth Gospel, is an account of the public ministry of Jesus... 3,16 |
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| Wujek Bible | Albowiem tak Bóg umiłował świat, że Syna swego jednorodzonego dał, aby wszelki, kto wierzy weń, nie zginał, ale miał życie wieczne. |
| Millenium Bible | Tak bowiem Bóg umiłował świat, że Syna swego Jednorodzonego dał, aby każdy, kto w Niego wierzy, nie zginął, ale miał życie wieczne. |
| Warsaw Bible | Albowiem tak Bóg umiłował świat, że Syna swego jednorodzonego dał, aby każdy, kto weń wierzy, nie zginął, ale miał żywot wieczny. |